Romania summons Russian ambassador over drone ‘threat’

Romania on Sunday strongly condemned the entry of a Russian drone into its airspace during an attack on neighboring Ukraine, with the foreign ministry summoning Moscow’s ambassador over the incident.

The incursion comes days after fellow NATO member Poland said it had shot down Russian drones which had violated its airspace as Moscow launched a barrage against Ukraine. 

 Russian Ambassador to Romania Vladimir Lipayev has told TASS that he rejected the Romanian foreign ministry’s protest over the alleged violation of the country’s airspace by a Russian drone, slamming the incident as "another Kiev regime’s provocation."

"During the meeting at the Romanian foreign ministry, I received no concrete convincing answer to any the questions about the identification of the unmanned aerial vehicle that had allegedly entered Romania’s airspace," the diplomat said.

"Due to the lack of any objective evidence of the drone’s national identification, the protest was rejected as far-fetched and groundless. All the facts indicate that this was another provocation by the Kiev regime which fears an inevitable military failure and the subsequent responsibility for its crimes against both the Russia and Ukrainian peoples and is desperately seeking to involve other countries into a dangerous military venture against Russia," he emphasized.